John Day Lock, Columbia River
Many powerful forces have shaped the scenery of the Columbia River, each building upon another through time, like layers of columnar basalt.
Mount Hood, one of the great Cascade Volcanoes, towers over the lower Columbia. Thousands of eruptions built it much higher than its present 11,239 feet, even as glacial ice worked to grind it down. The Cascades are millions of years old, but the Columbia is literally "old as the hills", and carved its seaward path as the mountains rose. Orogeny paused, and volcanic action took a new twist as syrupy lava spewed out of great cracks in the earth. The basalt of the Columbia Basin was formed. Lately, a new geologic force has shaped the river: man. Recognizing the great energy of the Columbia's many rapids and falls, people dammed the river, starting in the late 1800's and culminating in the great federal building projects of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. Pylons rather than rapids now indicate the river's might. The dams are all monumental, even geological in scale. The lock of John Day Dam is particularly impressive, with its guillotine gate and record-setting 105-foot lift.
The sun shown pleasantly all day today, creating deep shadows in canyon cliffs, and illuminating the soft golden hue of rounded hillsides. A gentle up-stream breeze made time on the outside decks idyllic. In addition to viewing impressive scenery, we spotted bighorn sheep and white pelicans. Listening to the observations that Lewis and Clark made in this area, we wondered if their voyage here was as interesting and full of wonder as ours.
Many powerful forces have shaped the scenery of the Columbia River, each building upon another through time, like layers of columnar basalt.
Mount Hood, one of the great Cascade Volcanoes, towers over the lower Columbia. Thousands of eruptions built it much higher than its present 11,239 feet, even as glacial ice worked to grind it down. The Cascades are millions of years old, but the Columbia is literally "old as the hills", and carved its seaward path as the mountains rose. Orogeny paused, and volcanic action took a new twist as syrupy lava spewed out of great cracks in the earth. The basalt of the Columbia Basin was formed. Lately, a new geologic force has shaped the river: man. Recognizing the great energy of the Columbia's many rapids and falls, people dammed the river, starting in the late 1800's and culminating in the great federal building projects of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. Pylons rather than rapids now indicate the river's might. The dams are all monumental, even geological in scale. The lock of John Day Dam is particularly impressive, with its guillotine gate and record-setting 105-foot lift.
The sun shown pleasantly all day today, creating deep shadows in canyon cliffs, and illuminating the soft golden hue of rounded hillsides. A gentle up-stream breeze made time on the outside decks idyllic. In addition to viewing impressive scenery, we spotted bighorn sheep and white pelicans. Listening to the observations that Lewis and Clark made in this area, we wondered if their voyage here was as interesting and full of wonder as ours.
